Caroming
by animekraze
Summary: [oneshot] Toph left with a confession and a beating heart. I never replied. I regret that. [Taang, AangxToph, etc.]


**I like them to be older, more mature. It's easier to push the romantic side of it all. It's just awkward when they're all kids. **

**Btw, Cha is a real last name. I swear, really, it's my last name…**

**LOL, Zutara, just did that since I heard it's a possibility in the show and I just felt like doing that. I don't want a lonely emoish Katara in my hands. **

**Disclaimer: Me? Own the show? That's a good one!**

**_(A)_**

Once in a while I stop to realize what I'm doing. I look at my surroundings and realize that just moments before I was a few steps behind. When I look at my own reflection I wonder what others see me as. Then I ponder over my life and realize how many times luck had blessed me. Then I look over at her, and think how lucky I am compared to so many…

It all seemed to be a dream. An image made by your brain when you fall asleep. A movie that occupies you as your body rests. A fantasy that you wish would truly happen deep within your heart. I always felt like I was caroming between dream and reality every waking moment, and too many times have I stopped at a dream and left with a depressed heart.

The world was finally at peace.

Fire Lord Ozai had been forced down from his throne and is now locked away in his own dungeon.

Zuko and Katara have found love in each other (Much to Sokka's protests). They say, "Good luck with the world!" I sigh and toss the letter behind me among many others.

Sokka and Suki are enjoying a nice get-away in a new world travelers had found. They say that all the sites are ones they had never seen and something about a "TV" or whatever. They say, "We're doing great! Hope to see you soon!" a picture is included. I placed the letter in a drawer and tack the picture among many others.

Toph left with a confession and a beating heart.

I never replied.

I regret that.

I sent her the letters, and she never replies.

Then I hold this letter in my hands, the Bei Fong family symbol on the front. I carefully pull the string and it unravels off the scroll. I pull the two wooden poles away from each other and read the letter between them.

_To Aang,_

_We invite Aang the Avatar to our daughter's 16th birthday. We hope you come and celebrate our daughter's day of birth. _

_Please wear proper attire and bring a gift. _

_RSVP not needed_

One chance to see her, just one!

"Are you sure this is okay?" I mutter, looking at my green robes.

Katara nodded, "Don't worry, what can go wrong?" she tied the sash around my waist, "So you didn't see her since you were thirteen, so she confessed to you and you rejected her…" I could tell she was slightly pissed off.

"I didn't reject her." I said a little annoyed.

"You didn't reply."

"What could I say!? I wasn't sure; I was still hung over you!"

I was immensely taller than Katara, about a head taller, and still growing.

Katara patted my arms, "It's going to be fine." She smiled and looked at me through the mirror, "You look so much more different than when I first met you."

I looked at myself, and knew how short life really is. My face had thinned out, becoming shapely instead of rounded. My eyes were still large though, much to my dismay. I smiled, my eyes becoming thinner, "Yeah…"

"I wonder how Toph looks like…" Katara thought out loud.

I turned to her, "You didn't see her since three years ago?"

Katara shook her head sadly, "No, they denied she was alive three years ago. Seems now they let it all out." She rubbed her hands together, "I never received an invitation…so…" she looked up at me, "Bring her back here." Katara poked Aang's shoulder with her finger.

I was taken aback, but laughed, "Yeah, I promise…" I always had a tendency to make promises like that. So as I walked out of the room swearing under my breath, I walked into Zuko, who was, strangely enough, shorter than I.

I looked down, just a little, and smiled, "Hey, it's Zuko!"

He looked up at me, and I could see the vein slowly coming up on his forehead, "When did you become taller than me?"

* * *

I stood in front of the large door, staring at the flying boar as it stared back at me as if it was mocking me. The only thing I could hear was the pounding of my heart as my hand came closer and closer to the door. I fisted my hand and knocked on the wood, "Hello? I'm here for Toph Bei Fong's birthday party?"

A small slit quickly opened, surprising me, "Show us your invitation."

I rummaged through my robe and took out the scroll. I handed it to the doorman through the slit. The invitation was snatched out of my hands and the slit closed. I blinked.

The door opened revealing the large garden filled with people and lamps. A row of men and women clad in elaborate and beautiful robes greeted me, "Welcome! Please enjoy the party!" they all cried in unison.

I stared back, "Er…thank you!" I smiled, I walked passed them, a little disturbed and ran into the groups of people.

No one really noticed me, since I covered my arrow mark with a hat, and began to weave through various people looking for Toph. My face flared as I thought of her, and I bit my lip, remembering that one moment, and remembering how ashamed I felt afterwards.

Questions flooded my mind. So many things I wanted to ask her, but overall I was too afraid; too afraid that, perhaps, she had forgotten me, or moved on, or…

"Toph, this is Lee, he's from the Cha family."

I probably looked like a dog. I shot my head high above the crowd and spotted Toph with her father and some guy.

"Really," Toph had matured, a **lot**, and when I say a lot, I don't mean just got taller, longer hair, no. I mean matured in every way possible. My heart skipped a beat. She wore a green robe embroidered with golden designs that ran from her right shoulder, down the middle of her chest, around her waist and onto the right of her foot. The robe was loose, held together only by a dark green sash. Beneath the robe was a red dress that seemed to only reach to a mid-thigh length. The first thing I saw were her eyes; they were the same old Toph eyes. I noticed her bangs were pulled back to one side with a clip, and the rest of her hair was pulled into a tight bun. The next thing I noticed were her-

"Excuse me, but are you the Avatar?" a woman pulled my sleeve. I looked at her and noticed that my hat had been pulled back, "Are you?"

"Uh…yes."

Everyone gathered around me.

"OH MY GOODNESS! THE AVATAR!" a bunch of squeals rung throughout the party and I flinched, my ears ringing.

"Thanks for saving us!"

"How old are you?"

"Are you single?"

"Can I rub your head for good luck?"

I looked among the crowd and saw no familiar faces, "Um, excuse me…" I laughed nervously and slowly made my way out of the crowd, feeling someone rubbing my head, and finally fell down onto grass and I sighed, "Please, I need to see Toph Bei Fong!"

I looked up and saw Toph; she was standing there, looking down at me. She was immensely surprised, shocked, and blushing like mad, "TWINKLETOES!?" she cried, her voice was deeper and very mature.

I smiled nervously, "Hi, Toph…"

That guy walked up next to Toph, "The Avatar? You knew him?"

Toph ran away.

The guy followed her like a puppy.

My mouth was hanging, I was surprised. I jumped onto my feet, "Toph! WAIT!" I cried running to her.

Toph ran a little faster, and when she realized I was only an arm's length away, she stomped her feet and a wall came up between me and her, "There is nothing holding you back, just go home." She said. She sounded sad.

I only stared at the wall, "I…" I knew she was gone already, with that guy whose last name was Cha.

I put my hand on the wall, and my expression softened remembering our departure, and I clenched my fist, the wall crumbling into dirt and falling apart. I walked over the pile of dirt, and wandered around the garden looking for Toph.

* * *

"UuuuuwwaaaAAAAHHHH!!!!" I cried, "WHERE THE HELL IS TOPH!?" I pounded the side of my fist against a wall. The wall broke apart, and I turned to watch it fall down, "Oops…" I quickly ran away, and slowed down as I came into a safe distant.

I walked forward, slowly, shuffling my feet. My arms crossed inside the sleeves of my robe and I sighed, wondering where Toph could be.

"Who knew that girl would grow up like that?" some guy whispered.

"Yeah, she's grown up a lot, if you know what I mean." His companion laughed.

"If I'm lucky…you know…"

"Not if I get to her first!"

I got pissed, really pissed off, "Hey," they were talking just around the corner of some bushes. I stalked up to them, "Toph isn't easy like that! You can't just say some crap and expect her to be sleeping with you!"

They stared at me as I continued to rant on and on about Toph.

"She'll kick your damn ass before you can do anything so just shut up!" I ended, breathing hard. I realized what I had said for the last…who knows how long, and bowed quickly, "Excuse me!" I ran around them and into a maze.

Left, right, run straight down, I kept this up for a good amount of time. I stopped and sighed, "Maybe I should go home…" I shook my head, "No, Toph would tell me to keep going." I also didn't want to go home facing an sad/angry Katara.

I continued my way, hoping to find my way out of the maze. I didn't want to draw anymore attention than I already had.

"Will…will you marry me!?"

I nearly jumped from that sudden proposal.

"Excuse me…?" that was Toph. I bit my lip and ran to where the conversation was taking place. I reached the middle of the maze, a small pond with a bridge was the scene, and I saw them.

Toph stood above a man who held her hands, down on knees, "We both are rich, your family approves me, I'm handsome, everyone loves me," he started to sound desperate, "You're the most beautiful woman I ever met! You're so strong and smart-!"

Toph had pulled both her hands away from the man and crossed them inside her long sleeves, "No."

I winced. Her blunt self never ceased to amaze me.

"Why!?"

"You're an idiot, it's that simple." Toph turned around and began to walk down the bridge.

"Wait," he grabbed her wrist, "Please, just explain it to me!"

"What's there to explain? Until you learn to be a true man, you'll never reel in a woman!" Toph yelled at him, getting angrier every second she was with him, "You led me in the middle of a maze for just this!? How stupid is that!"

She walked down the bridge and began to walk towards me. I quickly jumped into the tall bushes and stood perfectly still.

As she got near me, she ran like the wind and I could only gape. It was then I remembered she could feel vibrations by her feet, and I kicked my way out of the bush as I cursed my own self. I formed the air scooter and chased after her knowing full well that she won't be able to run away from me this time.

It was a game of tag, except a hundred times more violent.

Toph earthbended her way to safety and I dodged each attack with ease.

"Toph, wait, I want to talk!" I jumped off the air scooter and jumped into the air jumping off each pillar of earth that popped up from the ground. I landed in front of her, and cornered her into her own disastrous creations, "Please, let's talk." I noticed her face was redder than before.

She breathed heavily, "Don't give me that! Why are you talking now? What about earlier?" she poked my forehead right at the point of my arrow.

I placed my head over that aching injury and scowled, "That's why I need to talk to you!" I grabbed her hand, "Please…"

She paused, contemplating on what I said. When I saw her face she seemed to be in pain, her eyebrows furrowed, her lips pursed, and her eyes squinting and blinking. I felt heartbroken. Being the Avatar, I'm supposed to bring peace and make people feel safe physically, mentally…and emotionally…

I felt like it, just brushing the bangs that had fallen upon her face away from her eyes. My strong teacher, Sifu Toph was crying and I think I was, too. So I grabbed her wrist, entwined her fingers in mine and pulled her into me breathing in the scent of her hair.

It was then the scent of white plums became my favorite.

Toph leaned against me, knees buckled, arms limp, her entire self was in my control. I pulled myself away from her hair and looked down at her noticing how small she was. Remembering the past, I remembered how big she seemed before, and now, as I held her in my arms I saw how tiny she truly was, and how weak and tender she can really be.

So I wrapped my other arm around her waist, pulled her up and lifted her chin up at me. As I looked down at my teacher's eyes they were a beautiful foggy blue. The lamps illuminated and I heard the crowd cheer. The crescent moon glistened in the dark night sky. I looked down on her and bent down.

I brushed my lips against hers, we both gasped quietly, and I pressed my lips against hers. I kissed her as gently as I could and closed my eyes feeling the air she breathed out brush against my face. I pulled back and rested my cheek against hers and whispered in her ear the same thing she said to me three years before, "I have feelings for you. I don't know why but my heart hurts when I'm around you…" I wrapped both arms around her and held her tightly, "It's just that when I know you're right next to me, my heart starts to beat faster and faster and when I realize that you don't notice I feel like as if my heart has been torn up in millions of tiny pieces. So please tell me…how do you see me?" I knew Toph could feel the beating of my heart. I thought I was going to have a heart attack the way my heart was going. It seemed to be hours before Toph responded.

She put her arms on my shoulders and pushed me back, and she was blushing like mad. Be it embarrassment, shame, or possibly love, I don't know.

Toph placed her hand on my chest, right above me heart, "I'm sorry…"

My heart was torn, "Oh…well, I better…get going then!" I felt like a complete ass, "Um…come visit Katara, she misses you, tons…" I smiled and bowed, "Good-bye Sifu Toph."

As I walked away a rough hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me back onto something hard, "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I was apparently on her knee, and Toph had her fingers entwined in mine. She pulled my hand away and grabbed my other hand. She put my hand in the middle of her chest and bent down.

I could only wonder what I did to deserve this. First she deceives me, and then she acts like the man in the next situation.

I felt her heart beat, and it was as fast as mine. She kissed me with more passion than I had, unafraid, undaunted, and unappeased. Just when she was about to pull back I managed to free my hand away from hers and held her head in place as I lifted my head up to kiss her again. My other hand was still on her chest.

I never knew how to kiss. All I knew is that you place your lips on someone else's and that's it. As I opened my mouth I wondered if this was really appropriate for a monk.

Toph pulled back, out of breath, and knocked her forehead lightly on mine, "I'm sorry, I can't see, remember?"

I gaped, and laughed, "Yeah, I forgot." I pulled her other hand onto my chest and closed my eyes listening to the fast beat of my heart and hers.

It seemed to be all a dream, a figment of my imagination. I was caroming between dream and reality, unsure as to what was really happening and what I wished to happen. I listened to the wind as it brushed through the bushes above us, listened to the people who were bustling in the party around us, listened to our heart beats beating in near perfect unison.

I was caroming between dream and reality always expecting it all to be a dream, and when I wake up I would be left with a depressed heart.

I stopped at reality and when I opened my eyes to see Toph whose love wasn't dissipating, whose heart was still beating, whose smile was as bright as day, I smiled.

I finally left with a full heart.

"Happy Birthday, Toph."

**_(A)_**

**Is this completely OOC or what!? I know Aang will PROBABLY end up with Katara (much to my dismay) but hey, why not fantasize just a bit? Love the OOC!!!**

**I do not know her birthday; this is popped into my head. I actually didn't mean to make it like that in the end…but oh well; I'm not changing the story. **


End file.
